Blue Ensign

I was able to get the risers in place and also the front platform. 

Post One hundred and Sixty-one.
 The Launch – completion

8258
Busy, busy, in the workshop, a case of spot the the boat.

8264
With the wash-boards attached a fair bit of cleaning up is required, but overall  I am satisfied that the modification was worth it.

8265
 
The Rudder
The final addition; as with the other boats I put the kit arrangement aside in favour of  a working rudder using the typical long pintle at the lower end.

8254(2)
The long pintle is silver soldered using a fine brass eyebolt and pin.

8255(2)
A brass micro tubing sleeve  is used to give support where it fits into the lower stern post.

8266
The long pintle is particularly important  in relation to the Launch as to work the Davit the rudder would need to be removed quickly and easily.

8260

8262
If the rudder is shown in place, then the Davit is stored in the Stern-sheets.

8270
 If the Davit is shown in place, then the Rudder is not fitted, it would be taken onboard.

8274(2)
For display purposes I will have the Davit in place as it is a launch specific fitting.

8276(2)
With ten days labour I think I’ve had my moneys worth out of the Launch kit, a lot of modifications in one small hull.
 

8279(2)
Two down, one to go.
 
 
B.E.
29/08/2022
 

Thank You, druxey. Here is a slightly better photo showing the waterholes in the corners of the spritsail (lower).
I'm going to add a thin painted "rim" around the holes to indicate they're grommeted (stitched) around the openings.

I've been busy with sailmaking rigging details and here are some photos of this work over the past couple weeks. This work is very tedious as the spaces for the additional sail rigging lines get's very constrained. Additionally, to add sail rigging requires a number of block additions and belaying decisions. When adding sails (with attendant management lines), my "rule" is to work "top-down"- starting from the gallants, progressing to the topsails, then finally down to the main courses. The bowsprit/jibboom sails (two on this model) are outside this metthod as is - of course - the lateen spanker sail at the stern.
Here are some more sail prep details.
At times, progress seems sooooo....sllllooooowwww during these final rigging stages. But, I'm not in a hurry. Are You?
However - to break the repetitive monotony of the sail fabrication final details and their complicated rigging, I finished some unfinished business on the hull. This acrylic color is my choice - AGED WHITE. The lighting makes the paint in the bottle appear considerably whiter than it is: the actual hue does have a yellow cast to it. It's from Vallejo and this particular bottle is for airbrush work (less viscous consistency) which I also like by applying by brush (three coats). An airbrush isn't necessary for this. I masked-off the waterline with Tamiya tape,  per normal, and then brushed on three thin coats. A brighter white color would be much too stark; this paint during the era would be a hue resembling "tallow."

A view of the waterline painted at midships. As anyone who follows this thread knows, my model will be displayed in a waterline diorama. Hence, painting the lower hull was minimal and even this small area will be largely covered in diorama "water." I haven't decided on the angles of heeling and the exact tack of the ship but I'm pretty confident I won't be lifting the hull much above the wave action. This part of my project gets very interesting in the final stages because I'll soon need to decide on the sail bracing(s) and yard positions. I've decided to set a total of 11 working sails including both large fore and main courses - as well as both spritsails. All the sails will need to be positioned in a sensible manner depending on how rough the depicted seas are and naturally, the wind direction.

Another waterline view at the bow. This area of the model is always dramatic in a diorama: the cutwater/stem will likely be splashing large amounts of water up and around the front of the hull. When I paint the water I add  some translucency to the colors so that below waterline ares of the hull can be partially seen (in some places). I accomplish this translucency (like real water) by layering colors and mixing a medium into them for the sea and waves.

There are dozens of reef "points"  to add to several of Camilla's large sails (these are the thin ropes that secure partially furled sails when the conditions call for "shortening sail"). Making and affixing lots of these reef points is more tedious than doing ratlines - in my estimation. There are about as many of these to do as there are ratlines required to tie to the shrouds. Ugh.
 
Once the reef point ropes are cut and inserted into the completed sail, they must be affixed in-place, at the proper lengths, fore-to-aft: I use Liquitex Matte Medium acrylic for this. The "points" on the aft side of the sail are much longer than the ropes on the non-windward (fore) side of each sail that carries these lines.
 
In the photo here, I've inserted individual ropes through holes in the reef lining bands (can't be seen in this view), added a tiny drop of adhesive to hold them so they don't slide out of position and wait until the matte medium dries, which is fairly quickly. The next step is tricky because the ropes want to point in every direction but the way you'd like them to hang downward - loosely; as a simple solution to hold these ropes I created a simple jig which is a ruler's edge (supported by a simple clamp on both ends of the ruler - one seen here). The edge of the ruler holds the loose ropes in rough alignment for adding yet another tiny drop of matte medium adhesive to secure the ropes a few millimeters below their pass-through holes. The ends of the ropes will be trimmed evenly after this step is completed. 
 
As can be seen in the photo, the top band of reef points is higgledy-piggledy (that's a shipwright's technical term). The sail's linings are clearly seen here as are the bolt rope on the leeches and foot and clue cringles. Holes for the bowline and bunt line cringles will be made after the reef points are completed. This sail is the mizzen course. The holes for the sails robands have been drilled through at the head of the sail. The robands "bend" (mount) the sail to the yard.

A toothpick suffices for daubing the tiniest amount of matte adhesive to the aft reef points. This secures them firmly. I chose a gluing spot a few millimeters down from their through-holes. On working sails, these lines will be moving with the wind and at any given sailing moment will not be uniform across the sail, and shouldn't be. The lengths of the ropes will be trimmed, but they'll be loosely arrayed as they would appear in real sailing conditions. On the fore sides of sails with reef points, the matte adhesive is used to affix much shorter lengths of the reef ropes. These points are more uniformly arrayed across the fore side of their sails with considerably less randomness.

It's getting very busy in Sail City.
Here, Camilla's two spritsails have a majority of their sail running rigging affixed. Keen eyes will see that the Spritsail topsail - at the tip of the jibboom - still needs it clues to be rigged...which leads to the next photo.

As mentioned earlier, adding sails requires a host of additional blocks and decisions about where to belay the falls that result.
 
In the case of the Spritsail topsail, blocks need to be added to the foretop. I should have remembered to do this at a much earlier stage of my build, but - I didn't. Thank goodness for my trusty #72 thumbdrill. After two holes are carefully drilled into both sides of the top, an eyelet (bolt) will be glued in (facing downward). There are sufficient number of P/E brass eyelets left over in the kit's rigging provisions; the "eyebolts" are painted black. The eyelet will hold a single-sheave, stropped block UNDER the foretop and receive the clueline from the Spritsail topsail.
 
The arrow points to a guide that I used to determine an unimpeded run from the topsail's clue (sail corner) up to the foretop. The guide helped me to determine the exact position of the hanging block for the sail's  line. It's a perfectly straight, 1.0 mm square piece of spare pear stock and I've inserted it to an approximate location of where a block will be later positioned.

Both undersides of the foretop need a single-sheave block for the spritsail topsail's clue lines.

Here is the block for the spritsail topsail clue stropped to a hook that hangs from the eyebolt that I added to the foretop.

Speaking of additional sail rigging blocks: there are now five (5) rigged blocks at the very tip of the jibboom. I've added the double-sheave block- the darkest one - for the top gallant bowline; the line will lead back through the fairlead on the lower bowsprit and tie-off deckside.

The bowlines for the fore topsail require single-sheave blocks mounted atop the beeblock at the end of the bowsprit. These sail lines will also feed through the fairlead.

Last, but not least, the forecourse bowlines require two single blocks. These are mounted to the stay rigging lines near the open heart blocks that secure the foremast. These blocks are 3.0 mm, single-sheave. Blink, and they'll disappear! The arrow points to the port side one squeezed into the existing rigging. The bowlines will run unimpeded back through the bowsprit fairlead and terminate on deck like the other bowlines. I should have added these blocks earlier too. Oh well... build and learn.

A gulls eye view showing how I'm working "top down" with the sail rigging. Fore topgallant nearly rigged. Fore topsail is bent to its yard, but no clue rigging yet. The robands will be trimmed-off ala' the topgallant above it.

Another progress view of the foremast rigging with two of her three sails in various stages of additional rigging.
 
That's All For Now , Folks.
Back to more sail rigging prep. Sheesh.

Post One hundred and fifty-nine.
 
 The Launch – cont’d
 Fitting the stern sheets
 The kit provided  part includes the stern-sheets and adjacent thwart as one unit. There is no bench on the aft side against the transom.

Victory Launch - note the dis-mounted Davit
This may be a design feature to allow easier fitting, which it does, but I am aware that the current launch with HMS Victory  also has no transom bench.
 I chose to include a Transom bench between the two side benches, as per the drawings in the AotS books, Pandora and Diana.

8173(2)
The individual seating parts were split up and the cut-away shape  common in side benches, was formed.
 
The Davit
The kit provided Davit is of a simplified form lacking the sheave in the outer end. I also thought it looked a little under weight.
 
The Davit was used to support the handling of anchors I doubled up on the kit pattern to create a sheave in the outer end, this gave an overall width of 2mm.

8177(3)
The Davit supports were re-made using 1.5mm  square stuff,
I also re-made the thwart adjacent to the stern-sheets, onto which the Davit supports are bolted.
 

8168
The Breasthook is fitted at the bow along with the first thwart.  The remainder will be left until the Windlass is fitted.
I made the Fore mast clamp on the thwart  with  black card rather than use the provided etch.
 

8170(2)
This is also an opportune time to add the wales which further strengthen the hull for handling.
 
More work is required cleaning up the inner hull, these macro shot fill me with horror.😬
I prefer scraping with a wetted sharp blade rather than sanding, the thinness of the planking always has to be borne in mind.

8177(2)
The mast steps have been fitted and the Main Thwart made. This is wider by an inch than the other thwarts at 10” (4mm)
 
Before moving on, there is a windlass to make, an interesting little exercise.
 
 
B.E.
 
24/08/2022
 
 

Post One Hundred and Fifty-two
 
Yawl – planking completion
 After four days the Yawl planking is completed.
Notwithstanding the stem issue, and that I have built this before, I think the Yawl is the easiest of the three to plank.

7855(2)

7853
A relatively even line for the final planks.
I did tweak the Garboard planks a little  to create a more even  final plank.

7857
A guide-line is marked on Tamiya tape to template the spiled plank.

7859
This is cut from wider 0.6mm strip.

7860
It’s then just a question of slowly fining down to fit the space.

7862

7868
7874(2)

7872(2)

7870(2)
With the three ‘official’ boats  planked I have decided to defer completing the cutter which I will lapstrake.
 
I can now move onto the more interesting aspect for me, of  fitting out the boats, starting with the Pinnace.
 
It has taken around 14 days to  get to this stage, but feels a lot longer.
Despite the frustrations of building these bijou models I still think they offer the most authentic representations of ships boats at this scale.
 
B.E.
11/08/2022
 
 

Thanks Rob and Thomas.
 
Post One Hundred and Forty-eight
 
Completing the Pinnace planking.
 The hull shape of a Pinnace at the bow make it not the easiest  to plank.
From the fifth strake these tiny strips are subject to the whole gambit of manipulation. Edge bend, taper, bevel, and bow curve. (other builds may differ)

7780
The edge bend required on the fifth strake.
 
A couple of tips.
 It quickens the process if the wood is dampened when applying ca at the bow.

7783(2)
These Hairdresser sectioning clips are perfect for clamps on these small projects. They exert just the right amount of pressure and can be bent to suit the job in hand.
 
With six strakes completed I turn my attention to the Garboard strake.
 
Tricky things Garboards, how much to taper, where to terminate? 

7784
I start with a length of card to avoid spoiling my limited supply of 0.6mm  strip wood.
 
I am using slightly wider strips for the Garboard, but in practice it’s guesswork for me at the best, coupled with hope that the adjacent planking meets up.
The aim is to get any awkward final spiled planks to sit beneath the round of the hull.
 

7786
Here there are two strakes remaining, and the spacing is fairly even.

7787
The final spaces requiring spiled planks which will sit out of sight beneath the hull.

7789
Tamiya tape is used to template the final planks.

7798(2)

7791
As is my practice I refer to Gromit for an opinion.

7796(2)
How does it look Gromit – Ruff comes the reply.
 
Have faith Gromit it will all come good in the end.🤞 🤞
 
 
Onto the Launch.
 
 
B.E.
02/08/2022
 

Post One Hundred and Forty – seven
 
Prepping and fairing the hull.
 I begin with the Pinnace
Preparation is everything and I take steps to reduce the risk of damage to the vulnerable areas of stem and stern.
Of course you may get away without this stuff but I’m a belt and braces sort of chap.

7714(2)p
I also apply a smear of pva beneath four of the tabs to help stabilise the frames in the building board. This is easily removed later.

7724
 A fresh supply of sanding sticks is made up for the fairing.

7741(3)
The hull is stable on its board allowing me to handle it with confidence and the fairing doesn’t take that long.
 
The first plank is applied against the shoulder of the frames and fits into the stem rabbet.

7747
Heat is used to form the bow curve.

7753
This probably the easiest plank to fit except that getting the first plank to just hold in the stem rabbet whilst allowing space for the corresponding plank is tricky.

7752
My approach was to get the end sufficiently in to hold and then trim back in the rabbet from the other side for the corresponding plank.
I used a spot of ca for the bow end and first frame and pva thereafter.

7751
I am surprised that the length of the planking strips  only extends about 2mm beyond the  stern, leaving very little excess for minor adjustments or securing at the transom.
It also makes edge bending as a planking tool, more difficult.

7756
The support blocks used to stop lateral movement of the stern panel are trimmed to form clamps for the plank ends.
 
After the first strake the planks are tapered at the bow. When I say tapered this is a very slight taper – the overall width of the planks is less than 2mm so there is little to play with.
 
At this scale the finer points of hull planking such as tick strip marking don’t really apply, at least for me. The start of taper can be marked but beyond that it’s down to eye and trial fit.
When it comes to edge bending the strip are too small for easy clamping, but they are fine enough to work an edge bend using fingers, but it is a high risk activity.
 
At this point I have already had three strip breakages but fortunately there is a supply of 0.6mm fret from the Sphinx kit to make replacements.

7757
One has to get inventive when it comes to clamping on these bijou constructions.

7759
Four strakes fills the Stem rabbet, from this point on they will terminate against the stem/keel.
The stem is now more secure from the risk of breakage.

7760
With four strakes attached to the stern board it is now also secure.

7770
The hull is quite rigid now and can be removed (temporarily) from its building board if required.
 
I will now continue planking to completion.
 
B.E.
30/7/2022
 

Post One Hundred and Forty-five
 
Twelve month review.
 
The final completion of Sphinx will now be put on hold whilst I attend to the ships boats.
 
A convenient point with the twelve month anniversary of the build start coming up.
 
I have worked on Sphinx  pretty much daily over this time, and it is a testament to Chris’s  design that a model of this detail and appearance can be produced in such a relatively short time.
 
I have tweaked the kit in quite a few areas to reflect my Navy Board Style version, but my Pegasus build which necessitated far more scratch adjustments, took over two years to reach this point.

01819(2)
Pegasus at two year stage.
 
As a change from my usual hand held cluttered work bench shots, a tidy up, and tri-pod photo shoot to mark the twelve month stage.

7646(2)

7631

7630(3)

7634(3)

7633

7639(2)

7635(2)

7629(2)

7644(2)

7652

7649(2)

7648
These last three shots  show the Hammock Cranes temporarily in place to help me decide if I want to fit them.
 
The contemporary Navy Board style model of the Amazon does show them, and the kit provided versions are very nicely detailed, but at this point I’m still undecided.
 
Sphinx will now be put into her case while I make the Ships boats.
 
Thank you to all who have shown interest in this build over the past year.
 
 
B.E.
26/07/2022
 
 

Post One Hundred and Forty-two
 
Creating the Masts.
With the masts cut to length the level at the partners is marked.
For those who may not know the partners for the Foremast and Mizen are at the level of the Upper deck, not at Foc’sle and Qtr deck levels.
 
This is only important if the mast is to be properly Quartered and tapered and the proportional fractions applied. Ie 1st Qtr 60/61, 2nd Qtr 14/15, 3rd Qtr 6/7.
 
The mast is also properly tapered below the deck but that need not concern us with this model.
 
Because my masts terminate just short of the hounds I have tapered close to the  dimension at that point. (7mm) This also accords with the taper at the masthead base 7mm as shown on the plan.
All the relevant points were marked on the kit plans, and transferred to the masts.

7562
The tapering was done on the lathe using only stiff sandpaper, with regular checking of the diameters at the quarters.

7565
I decided to replace the Pearwood kit cheeks with Boxwood versions that suited the  Ramin mast spindles better.
The bottom end of the Cheeks is marked on the mast spindle by reference to the plans.
 
Creating the flats on the mast sides to take the cheeks is probably the trickiest element.

7570
I did this by marking the cheek outline on the spindle, and masking outside of this to form the area for flattening off.
I used a combination of sanding board, scraping, and eye, to form the flat.

7566

7574
The Front Fish was also replaced with a Boxwood version.
 
In the next post the mast will be completed with Wooldings and  iron straps.
 
B.E.
22/07/2022
 

Post One hundred and Sixty-one.
 The Launch – completion

8258
Busy, busy, in the workshop, a case of spot the the boat.

8264
With the wash-boards attached a fair bit of cleaning up is required, but overall  I am satisfied that the modification was worth it.

8265
 
The Rudder
The final addition; as with the other boats I put the kit arrangement aside in favour of  a working rudder using the typical long pintle at the lower end.

8254(2)
The long pintle is silver soldered using a fine brass eyebolt and pin.

8255(2)
A brass micro tubing sleeve  is used to give support where it fits into the lower stern post.

8266
The long pintle is particularly important  in relation to the Launch as to work the Davit the rudder would need to be removed quickly and easily.

8260

8262
If the rudder is shown in place, then the Davit is stored in the Stern-sheets.

8270
 If the Davit is shown in place, then the Rudder is not fitted, it would be taken onboard.

8274(2)
For display purposes I will have the Davit in place as it is a launch specific fitting.

8276(2)
With ten days labour I think I’ve had my moneys worth out of the Launch kit, a lot of modifications in one small hull.
 

8279(2)
Two down, one to go.
 
 
B.E.
29/08/2022
 

Post One hundred and Sixty.
 The Launch – ongoing
Detailing continues; the thwarts are in place along with the Windlass. The lifting rings have been added to the keelson.

8220
Still to add the thwart brackets.
 
Fitting the brackets is an exercise in frustration; they are incredibly tiny items, seemingly smaller than those for either the Pinnace or Yawl.
The only saving grace is that brackets are required for only three of the thwarts, which allows a margin for the inevitable escapees.
 
Before I move onto the wash strakes I needed to decide whether to paint the bottom of the launch up to the waterline.

8221
I had intended to leave the whole hull bright across the range, but I quite liked the effect on the Pinnace, so ivory bottom it is.
On the kit the hull is painted white overall up to the wale, but I prefer a bright hull between waterline and wale which provides a nice contrast.
 Wash-strakes
These are formed using planking strips allowing for the oarlock spaces.
The blurb says  add more lengths of planking along the bulwark top for the oar positions.
Easy to say, not so easy perhaps to achieve.
There is nothing to support these thin strips and they should follow uniformly the curve of the hull.
 
The kit arrangement is a simplification, presumably due to scale. In reality there would be tholes to secure and take the pressure of the oars, and against which the temporary wash boards would be secured.

8224
To try and add a tad more realism to the set up I fitted strips  between the frames along the inner hull to support the tholes.
 
Admittedly I am doing this as an exercise to see if I can, and it does extend the build time which means I don’t have to think about another one.🙄
 
The thole positions are marked and the process can begin.

8234
The wash strakes at the Bow are attended to first, these are heat treated to follow the hull before fitting against the first thole.

8244
With that done the next thole can be fitted with a 1.25mm spacing, and so on.
 
8241

8250
I will continue to fit the wash boards and hope it all turns out ok. The danger will be when I come to clean it all up, whether these delicate pieces will hold in place.
 
B.E.
27/08/2022
 
 
 
 
 

Post One hundred and Sixty-one.
 The Launch – completion

8258
Busy, busy, in the workshop, a case of spot the the boat.

8264
With the wash-boards attached a fair bit of cleaning up is required, but overall  I am satisfied that the modification was worth it.

8265
 
The Rudder
The final addition; as with the other boats I put the kit arrangement aside in favour of  a working rudder using the typical long pintle at the lower end.

8254(2)
The long pintle is silver soldered using a fine brass eyebolt and pin.

8255(2)
A brass micro tubing sleeve  is used to give support where it fits into the lower stern post.

8266
The long pintle is particularly important  in relation to the Launch as to work the Davit the rudder would need to be removed quickly and easily.

8260

8262
If the rudder is shown in place, then the Davit is stored in the Stern-sheets.

8270
 If the Davit is shown in place, then the Rudder is not fitted, it would be taken onboard.

8274(2)
For display purposes I will have the Davit in place as it is a launch specific fitting.

8276(2)
With ten days labour I think I’ve had my moneys worth out of the Launch kit, a lot of modifications in one small hull.
 

8279(2)
Two down, one to go.
 
 
B.E.
29/08/2022
 

I just love the sweep of your hull timbers up to the the lower counter, and I think you were right to remove the first go at the counter frieze.
I too am a fan of Chuck's paper friezes and they look so good on Winnie, I adapted them for Sphinx.
Beautiful work Glenn.
 
B.E.

I just love the sweep of your hull timbers up to the the lower counter, and I think you were right to remove the first go at the counter frieze.
I too am a fan of Chuck's paper friezes and they look so good on Winnie, I adapted them for Sphinx.
Beautiful work Glenn.
 
B.E.

I just love the sweep of your hull timbers up to the the lower counter, and I think you were right to remove the first go at the counter frieze.
I too am a fan of Chuck's paper friezes and they look so good on Winnie, I adapted them for Sphinx.
Beautiful work Glenn.
 
B.E.

I just love the sweep of your hull timbers up to the the lower counter, and I think you were right to remove the first go at the counter frieze.
I too am a fan of Chuck's paper friezes and they look so good on Winnie, I adapted them for Sphinx.
Beautiful work Glenn.
 
B.E.

Post One hundred and Sixty-one.
 The Launch – completion

8258
Busy, busy, in the workshop, a case of spot the the boat.

8264
With the wash-boards attached a fair bit of cleaning up is required, but overall  I am satisfied that the modification was worth it.

8265
 
The Rudder
The final addition; as with the other boats I put the kit arrangement aside in favour of  a working rudder using the typical long pintle at the lower end.

8254(2)
The long pintle is silver soldered using a fine brass eyebolt and pin.

8255(2)
A brass micro tubing sleeve  is used to give support where it fits into the lower stern post.

8266
The long pintle is particularly important  in relation to the Launch as to work the Davit the rudder would need to be removed quickly and easily.

8260

8262
If the rudder is shown in place, then the Davit is stored in the Stern-sheets.

8270
 If the Davit is shown in place, then the Rudder is not fitted, it would be taken onboard.

8274(2)
For display purposes I will have the Davit in place as it is a launch specific fitting.

8276(2)
With ten days labour I think I’ve had my moneys worth out of the Launch kit, a lot of modifications in one small hull.
 

8279(2)
Two down, one to go.
 
 
B.E.
29/08/2022
 

I agree with Rusty. Very pristine, precise work. When completed, your Winchelsea scratch is going to be a stunning model. 

Starting the QGalleries
 
This post will look a lot like many other fine logs that have gone before me. I’ll once again say how wonderful MSW, build logs, and this group project are as a ready resource, in addition to Chuck’s fine monograph of course, in helping guide my build. Maybe I’ll offer something new to those that follow, or at least serve as confirmation doing as others have done.
 
The q-galleries are an exercise in patience. Not difficult in and of themselves to make, given the nice laser cut parts Chuck provides for chapter 3, they require a great deal of precision in getting the measurements, location, and references lining up one part to another, and those to yet another.  Like many elements of the build, getting the “infrastructure” right is critical to how the final product will look.

First up is cutting out the gallery template and marking the location of the top frame and roof. I thought for a moment why not just get some crayons, color this in and call it done, but decided to continue forward when my grandkids wouldn’t let me use their crayons.

I glued on the upper frame after checking and rechecking measurements. There is the reality that every hull is different and there likely won’t be an exact match. It’s amazing though how well Chuck’s design works, things just seem to fit and/or have the built in latitude for adjustment. I will give myself a little credit for my obsession all the way back to fitting the stern frames and gallery framing against the plan. (the template is just loosely sitting there for the photo).

Next up is adding the lower frame or floor along the line of the wales. Here it's held up for checking using my new best friend, double sided tape. It holds well and is easily removed.

I prefer to work both sides of the ship rather than completely finishing one, so while waiting for the PVA glue to dry at various points I worked on the transom cove. I’m happy to report I did not break those lovely but very fragile scroll parts (they come as two, then mated on the cove). Don’t need it yet, but it was a nice distraction.

Not sure which log I saw this on, so thanks to my fellow builder for the idea of installing the head before adding the q-frame planking. I’ll have to say fitting it this way from the side verses working from the top was a straight forward approach, just had to gently fair the outboard edge to match up with the upper and lower frame.

After fairing the frames I added the “planking,” a 1/32 layered sheet that easily bends on multiple axis to nicely cover the frame. It was a bit of a challenge for me to line it up to cover top and bottom, fore to aft. Just a little fumble fingered work, it’s purposely oversized to allow for that adjustment - I just had to do it. I resorted to CA here, it’s not going anywhere now.

I spent several hours sorting out how to attach the gallery roof. Pie-shaped it has to hold itself up (for now) glued to two sides. Ok, that’s not so hard…maybe…  The challenge is attaching the slippery little pie so that it is parallel to the upper frame, like the lower frame reasonably closely following the run of the planks, and be in line with the deck. After a few false starts I elected to install some temporary “scaffolding” after measuring remeasuring, then measuring again. The final challenge for me was to have both port and starboard roofs the same height above the upper frame and the same height below the top rail of the hull on the side and the transom at the back.  I had to carefully remove my scaffolding after the glue had a little time to hold and before it became glued to the hull too. 

With that both galleries are ready to be closed up with posts, windows and moulding followed by the roof and touch up painting. If you never hear from me again you’ll know it didn’t go well or I’m still trying to scrape wood into molding.
 
Thanks for stopping by, your likes and comments are always appreciated.

Post One hundred and Sixty-one.
 The Launch – completion

8258
Busy, busy, in the workshop, a case of spot the the boat.

8264
With the wash-boards attached a fair bit of cleaning up is required, but overall  I am satisfied that the modification was worth it.

8265
 
The Rudder
The final addition; as with the other boats I put the kit arrangement aside in favour of  a working rudder using the typical long pintle at the lower end.

8254(2)
The long pintle is silver soldered using a fine brass eyebolt and pin.

8255(2)
A brass micro tubing sleeve  is used to give support where it fits into the lower stern post.

8266
The long pintle is particularly important  in relation to the Launch as to work the Davit the rudder would need to be removed quickly and easily.

8260

8262
If the rudder is shown in place, then the Davit is stored in the Stern-sheets.

8270
 If the Davit is shown in place, then the Rudder is not fitted, it would be taken onboard.

8274(2)
For display purposes I will have the Davit in place as it is a launch specific fitting.

8276(2)
With ten days labour I think I’ve had my moneys worth out of the Launch kit, a lot of modifications in one small hull.
 

8279(2)
Two down, one to go.
 
 
B.E.
29/08/2022
 

According to Brian Lavery (Arming and Fitting) skid beams were standard by 1750, initially with iron crutches to secure them, but he indicates that their use on Ships of the line became more permanent by the 1780's.
 
His comments regarding frigates which is more relevant to Winchelsea is that; Frigates were rather slower in adopting gangways and boat booms and do not appear to have them until the early 1800s.
 
I think Chuck's approach of spare topmasts to support a ships boat feels more appropriate, and more aesthetically pleasing in relation to 'Winnie' of 1764.
 
B.E.
 
 
 
 
 

this is how I will probably show the barge.  I agree that skid beams were in use but it was hit or miss.  It also doesnt look as pretty.  In addition only one boat like this one is the best approach for me.  More than this and the boats just take up all the interest and become the focal point.  Something I would like to avoid.  The contemporary model pictures is from the era.  A real good match to what we are doing with Winnie.

According to Brian Lavery (Arming and Fitting) skid beams were standard by 1750, initially with iron crutches to secure them, but he indicates that their use on Ships of the line became more permanent by the 1780's.
 
His comments regarding frigates which is more relevant to Winchelsea is that; Frigates were rather slower in adopting gangways and boat booms and do not appear to have them until the early 1800s.
 
I think Chuck's approach of spare topmasts to support a ships boat feels more appropriate, and more aesthetically pleasing in relation to 'Winnie' of 1764.
 
B.E.
 
 
 
 
 

According to Brian Lavery (Arming and Fitting) skid beams were standard by 1750, initially with iron crutches to secure them, but he indicates that their use on Ships of the line became more permanent by the 1780's.
 
His comments regarding frigates which is more relevant to Winchelsea is that; Frigates were rather slower in adopting gangways and boat booms and do not appear to have them until the early 1800s.
 
I think Chuck's approach of spare topmasts to support a ships boat feels more appropriate, and more aesthetically pleasing in relation to 'Winnie' of 1764.
 
B.E.